A CORONAVIRUS vaccine is ready for testing, a genetic engineering company has said, in what could be a major breakthrough.

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Scientists at the US-based Greffex Inc, finished developing the vaccine in late February and now plan to move to the next stage of development. The company, established in 1999, has a corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, but main work comes out of a laboratory in Aurora, Colorado. If successful, the company would be the first to develop a vaccine for the deadly disease - and possibly put an end to the pandemic.

The US lab hopes to start animal testing in the next stage of development for the vaccine (Image: Greffex Inc•Getty)

Greffex Inc says it has created a 'vaccine candidate' (Image: Greffex Inc)

He said: “An adenovirus doesn’t make you sick, it is the genetic material inside it which does that. But because an adenovirus is so efficient, if you can empty it of the genetic particles which cause sickness, you would have something that works.

“As we experimented we found a way to gut the adenovirus, and a few years ago we decided to use this to manufacture vaccines. The adenovirus is the most efficient way of getting something in your cells.”

The approach of Greffex Inc is to "trick" the body into accepting things as its own through a "cheaper, faster, better" business approach.

Mr Price added: “I like to use the term vaccine candidate. I believe this is the correct phrase until it is in someone’s body.